Bedridden patient handling aid

ABSTRACT

A collapsible bedridden patient handling aid essentially consisting of a lifting device (10) comprising a frame (11), mounted on two pairs of wheels (12a, 12b) combined with retractable legs (17), and supporting a platform designed to be inserted between the patient (20) and the bed (21) to raise the patient and put him or her back down, said platform consisting of movable flat strips (14) mounted individually on a support (15) which is pivotable about a horizontal axis (16). A control unit is designed to control all the movements of said strips.

The present invention concerns an aid for handling bedridden patientscomprising a lifting device, a platform supported by said lifting devicedesigned to be inserted between the bed and the patient, and activatingmeans to raise or lower said platform in order to lift the patient abovethe bed and then reposition the patient on the bed, wherein the platformcomprises a series of individually movable flat strips.

Manipulating bedridden patients is one of the serious problemsencountered in medical and elderly care facilities. Medical personnelmust do this several times a day when administering treatment, as mustthe aides who bathe patients and perform other necessary tasks such aschanging dressings, making the bed, etc. These jobs now require twopeople, and this creates problems recruiting and training personnel. Inaddition, this is difficult work requiring extraordinary strength andendurance.

Lifting devices to aid hospital workers already exist, consisting of aplatform for raising the patient above the bed. However, these deviceshave the disadvantage of not allowing easy access to the patient's backwhen necessary.

The patient handling device described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,015,114consists of a frame with two strips to support the patient, said stripsbeing laterally retractable on either side of the patient. The frame,which is situated on either side of the bed, interferes with work, asworkers can only access the patient from below and not from the side. Itis also a cumbersome device which is complicated to position. It is afixed unit with no mechanical controls for the strips; operation isentirely manual.

The device described in British Patent No. 2 226 004 consists of a strutsupporting a certain number of incurved parallel strips, but it isimpossible to use when lifting a patient from a conventional hospitalbed. Furthermore, in order to avoid hurting the patient when the stripsrub against his or her back, the patient must be lifted up so a stripcan be pulled back. Thus, the device is impractical and lacks utility.Finally, because of the way the strips are shaped, the device isespecially awkward.

The present device proposes a practical solution to these problems and aremedy for the chronic shortage of health care workers, while at thesame time alleviating the work of aides who nevertheless remainindispensable for handling bedridden patients.

To achieve this, the device according to the invention is characterizedin that the movable strips are associated with a first mechanical meansfor displacing them axially, in an essentially horizontal direction, anda second mechanical means causing them to pivot about a horizontal axle.

In an advantageous embodiment the first mechanical means for axiallydisplacing the movable strips comprises at least one friction devicedriven by an electric motor which is maintained in contact with one ofthe strip surfaces.

Each strip is preferably associated with a friction device independentlydriven by an electric motor; said friction device may comprise at leastone ring attached to a peripheral groove on a rotating drum disposedbeneath the strip.

In the preferred embodiment, the drum comprises a plurality of ringsattached to peripheral grooves and in addition, the strip simultaneouslycontacts a first roller located above the strip and a second rollerlocated below said strip.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, said second mechanical meansfor making each strip pivot about a horizontal axle consists of anelectric motor, an endless screw attached to the motor shaft and a gearengaging said endless screw and which is integral with a pivoting axlesupporting a drum to which said strip is attached.

Advantageously, the drum of the second mechanical means supports thedrum, the first roller and the second roller which serve as supports forthe strip of the first mechanical means.

In another embodiment, the second mechanical means for displacing themovable strips along a generally horizontal axle may consist ofhydraulic or pneumatic cylinders respectively associated with saidmovable strips.

For safety reasons the movable strips are designed to prevent twojuxtaposed strips from being moved simultaneously.

In the preferred embodiment, the friction device preferably comprises atleast one ring located in the peripheral grooves of a rotatable drumsituated below the strips.

The present invention will be better understood with reference to thedrawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevation of the device when folded up;

FIG. 2 is the same device in the same state, seen from above;

FIG. 3 is a schematic elevation of the device according to the inventionprepared for use;

FIG. 4 is the device of FIG. 3 seen from above;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the device during the first actualphase of usage;

FIG. 6 is the device during the same phase seen from above;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the device during the second phase ofuse;

FIG. 8 is the device during the same phase, seen from above;

FIG. 9 is an elevation of the device during a third phase of use;

FIG. 10 is the device during the same phase, seen from above;

FIG. 11 is a profile partially illustrating the first mechanical meansfor axially displacing the platform and the second mechanical meanswhich makes it pivot;

FIG. 12 is a frontal view of said first means;

FIG. 13 is an elevational view of the second means which causes thestrips on the platform to pivot;

FIG. 14 is a schematic illustration of how the elements shown in FIG. 13function; and

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the lifting device.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 the patient handling aid as shownconsists essentially of a lifting device 10 comprising a frame 11mounted on two pair of wheels 12a, 12b and supporting a platform 13which consists, in the present case, of seven flat strips 14individually attached to a support 15 pivotable about a horizontal axle16. A control box CB (FIG. 15) is designed to control stripdisplacement. It may be part of the device or it may be independent. Asshown in FIG. 1, the device can be folded up to reduce its bulk. In thisposition strips 14 comprising platform 13 are folded downward and thepair of wheels 12b attached to retractable leg 17 is located essentiallybeneath frame 11.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the device ready for use during a procedure on apatient 20 lying on a hospital bed 21. In this position platform 13 hasbeen raised and leg 17 extended so that both pairs of wheels 12a and 12bform a stable base for the entire unit. Notice that strips 14 which hadbeen previously raised and assumed a horizontal position are temporarilydirected toward the outside of bed 21.

The device shown in FIG. 5 shows one phase of use in which the patient20 has been rolled to his or her side by a nurse or an aide fromposition A to position B, thereby allowing strips 14 comprising platform13 to be placed on the bed so the patient can resume the initialposition on platform 13 rather than on the bed. This position is shownin FIG. 6 depicting strips 14 which form a platform 13 serving as asupport for patient 20.

The following step is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, which show patient 20 uponplatform 13 which has been raised by lifting device 10. In thisposition, the patient is supported entirely by platform 13 more thantwenty centimeters above the bed 21 so the worker can do whatever isnecessary to the bed, i.e., make the bed, disinfect it, etc. FIGS. 6 and8 are virtually identical because when viewed from above, patient 20occupies the same position when platform 13 is lowered as in FIG. 5, orraised as in FIG. 7.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show a specialized use of platform 13 supporting patient20. Since strips 14 are independent of one another, one or more of thesestrips can be pivoted so the nurse or aide has direct access to thepatient's back for personal hygiene tasks, for example. If one or morestrips 14 are pivoted as shown in FIG. 9, the patient is supported bythe other strips which remain in a horizontal position, resulting in onearea being freed for the medical worker's interventions. For safetyreasons, two juxtaposed strips cannot be pivoted simultaneously. As seenin FIG. 15, control means can be used to prevent two juxtaposed movablestrips from moving simultaneously.

It is obvious that this patient handling device is particularlybeneficial because it allows a nurse or aide to perform alone taskswhich formerly required two persons working simultaneously with apatient. Furthermore, this device relieves the nurses and aides, as jobsrequiring physical strength such as lifting patients are performedmechanically.

In order to perform the various functions described above, strips 14 areindividually associated with a corresponding first mechanical means 30which displaces each strip in an axial direction, said mechanical meansbeing shown in detail in FIGS. 11 and 12, and a corresponding secondmechanical means 40 which makes the strips pivot about a horizontalaxle, said mechanical means being represented in detail in FIGS. 11 and13. FIG. 14 shows how the second mechanical means functions.

With reference to these drawings, the first mechanical means essentiallycomprises an electric motor 31, the output shaft of which supports adrive pinion 32 which engages a second drive pinion 33 attached to theend of a drum 34. This cylindrical drum has a certain number of frictionelements in the form of rings 35, preferably consisting of elastomerictoric connections located inside peripheral grooves within drum 34.Rings 35 contact the lower surface of a strip 14 maintained in positionby a first roller 36 which is located above and in contact with theupper surface of this strip and a second roller 37 in contact with itslower surface, at a point far enough away from roller 36 that the stripresists the weight of a patient positioned on platform 13.

The second mechanical means 40 consists of an electric motor 41, theoutput shaft 42 of which has an endless screw 43 engaging a gear 44attached to a pivotable shaft 46 (see FIG. 13). Motor 41 is attached tosupport 9 which is connected to pivotable shaft 46 by means of tworollers 45. Shaft 46 is held by one or two supports 47 integral withlifting device 10. This unit is mounted inside drum 48 which serves as asupport for the first mechanical means 30 as well as for rollers 36 and37. Because of this, since motor support 9 is fixed and the drum whichalso holds strip 14 is movable about pivotable axle 46, the strip can berotated in different positions.

FIG. 14 shows the three positions which strips 14 can assume. Thesethree positions correspond in use to three positions of drum 48 whichare controlled by motor 41 through endless screw 43 and gear 44. In afirst position 14a, the strips are folded downward. This positioncorresponds to that described in FIG. 1. In a second position, thestrips are horizontally straightened but directed toward the outside ofthe usage area. In this position strips 14b correspond to the state ofthe device as described with reference to FIG. 3. Finally, in a thirdposition, strips 14c are directed toward the bottom at about 45° belowthe usage area. They correspond to the state of the device as shown inFIG. 9.

Strips 14 can also be moved with the use of hydraulic or pneumaticcylinders (not shown) associated with each strip on platform 13.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described, butmay undergo various modifications and assume various forms obvious toone skilled in the art.

We claim:
 1. A device for handling a bedridden patient comprising:alifting device (10); a platform (13) supported by said lifting devicefor lifting the patient, said platform comprising a series of flatindividually movable strips (14) aligned along a horizontal axis; meansfor at least one of raising and lowering said movable strips for atleast one of lifting the patient from a bed and lowering the patientonto a bed; first mechanical means (30) for moving each said movablestrip substantially perpendicular to said horizontal axis; and secondmechanical means (40) for rotatably pivoting each said movable stripabout said horizontal axis.
 2. The device according to claim 1, whereineach said movable strip has a said first mechanical means (30) and asaid second mechanical means (40) individually associated therewith. 3.The device according to claim 1, wherein said first mechanical meanscomprises at least one friction device drivingly connected to anelectric motor (31), and said at least one friction device is maintainedin contact with at least one said movable strip.
 4. The device accordingto claim 3, wherein each said movable strip has a separate frictiondevice drivingly connected to a separate electric motor.
 5. The deviceaccording to claim 4, wherein each said friction device comprises atleast one ring (35) located in a peripheral groove of a rotatable drum(34) and in contact with a first surface of a said movable strip.
 6. Thedevice according to claim 5, wherein each said movable strip has asecond surface which contacts a first roller (36) and said first surfacecontacts a second roller (37).
 7. The device according to claim 1,wherein said second mechanical means comprises an electric motor (41)which has a rotatable shaft (42), an endless screw (43) is supportedadjacent one end of said rotatable shaft (42), a gear (44) is engagedwith said endless screw (43), said gear (44) is connected to a shaft(46) that supports a rotatable first drum (48), one of said movablestrips is supported by said first drum (48), and said motor facilitatesindividual pivotable movement of that supported movable strip about saidshaft (46) supporting said first drum (48).
 8. The device according toclaim 7, wherein said first drum supports a second drum (34), a firstroller (36) and a second roller (37), and said first and second rollers(36, 37) contact opposed surfaces of one said movable strip.
 9. Thedevice according to claim 1, further comprising control means connectedto said device for preventing two juxtaposed said movable strips frommoving simultaneously with one another.
 10. A device for handling abedridden patient comprising:a lifting device (10); a platform (13)supported by said lifting device for lifting the patient, said platformcomprising a series of flat individually movable strips (14) alignedalong a horizontal axis; means for at least one of raising and loweringsaid movable strips for at least one of lifting the patient from a bedand lowering the patient onto a bed; each said movable strip havingfirst mechanical means (30) drivingly connected therewith for movingthat said movable strip substantially perpendicular to said horizontalaxis, and each said movable strip having second mechanical means (40)drivingly connected therewith for rotatably pivoting that said movablestrip about said horizontal axis.